Fear of the Dark

[Aleece13]

I know, I'm 23 and I'm scared of the dark. I have never overcome this fear, I've struggled with the dark since I was very young. I'm not exactly scared of the pitch blackness, more like a fear of not being able to see my surroundings. I take comfort in analyzing things around me, so when I'm forced into the dark I panic. I freeze up completely and refuse to touch anything, whether it's my home or not or if I know what's around me or not. I do have vision problems. Sometimes I think this may be why, but I don't think that is it either. I'm just truly scared of what is in the dark because I can't see it...


There are rare occasions where I am so distracted I don't notice or am not bothered by it. It just haunts the back of my mind and I try to ignore it. At night I sleep with the blanket fully covering me except for a slit that lets in cool air from my fan.


Does anyone else have this problem? What have you used to cope with it?

 

[Zeesi]

When I was younger, up until I moved away from home when I became an adult, it would bother me to have all of the lights off at night in the house. It was my parent's home, so even though I didn't like the dark, I could not do whatever I wanted to do, like get up at night and turn on lights.


In the middle of the night I would walk around the house to make sure that everything was okay, My mom and dad would be in their bedroom sleeping like newborn babes, but I was walking around in the dark, thinking I was hearing noises, 'paranoid' because it was so dark.


Some mornings, my mother would say to me, "I heard you up last night... walking the floor." That's what she would call my attitude towards our dark house, "walking the floor".


One night I even woke my dad up from a sound sleep. Went into their bedroom, shook him awake, telling him, "I hear something!!" He got up, grabbed his gun out of his bedside table drawer and went looking around the house, but there was nothing "out there".


Now, these days as a grown woman, with a grown son, I am happy to report that there are always lights on in my house, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Always. A L W A Y S, lol.


Since I've been an adult, living on my own, I've never turned off all the lights in my house at night. Never.

 

[Alex]

As a child I didn't like the dark, but then again not many children do. I feel it stems from a fear that you can't see what there is and have no control of things. Maybe there is some underlying issue you might have repressed?


I grew out of the fear and now I don't like to sleep with any light peeking into my room. Perhaps try small things like having a small flashlight near you or have your phone nearby but flipped over, so if you need light it's there. Knowing a light is nearby can help ease that discomfort and can help you feel less afraid in the dark.

 

[DDNatureLover]

I think I've always had a vivid imagination. When I was very small, my sister, brother and I shared a room. There was some sort of dress form, I think, or coat rack in the corner of the room, and when it was dark, I could see it across the room, but couldn't make out exactly what it was. I should have known, and I'm sure I probably did, but my imagination turned it into something scary. We lived in the city with lots of street lights and other lights in houses around us, so it was never truly pitch black. 


I lose power here a lot, so always keep a flashlight next to my bed. I also have a lantern downstairs, in case the power goes out while I'm down there. I keep my cell phone next to the bed, charging while I sleep, and can always use that for light, as well. It might be beneficial for you to see a therapist and explore the source of your fear. You mentioned you have vision issues, and maybe that's why the dark scares you so much. Perhaps you're concerned about losing your vision, or just being unsafe because you can't see, such as a concern about tripping or hurting yourself. 

 

[Laneorexorcist]

I think that I am only afraid of the dark when I think about it and I have watched some horror movies that day or even a week, lol. But I don't have this issue on a regular basis, though... But when I was akid, I used to be really scared of it! I was actually afraid of waking up in the middle of the night because I was so terrified by the fact that I could be there on my own just surrounded by the darkness. But I'm still not sure how did I get over it, I think that it was progressive. I used to let my TV on or a little lamp turned on the whole night... that really worked for me, you should maybe try it! 

 

[Surrender]

I have been scared of the dark too. I see it as a spiritual fear, fear of the unknown on the other side, which seems to be able to either penetrate our reality better at night, or we are more aware. Even the Bible talks about being "afraid of the terror at night", it is a common thing to be scared of. 


I read something about when people go into sensory deprivation it is common to hallucinate and feel afraid of evil affecting them.  There are some studies done about it and there are also places you can go to experience this, little huts or rooms where people on the outside will give you food and be there in case you panic, yet leave you unsupervised in the dark. I guess people want to do it for a spiritual breakthrough, same like meditation retreat or something. 

 

[Fae]

I think a lot of people have a fear of what's unknown in the dark depending on their surroundings. For some it could be in familiar surroundings like the home. For myself, it is probably in places like dark city streets or forested areas where I have trouble accurately figuring out dangers in the area. If the city street is very familiar, I'm not very afraid, but unfamiliar streets or in areas I know shady... well, I walk fast!


It does sound like lowering your fear in this case would have to do with heightening your awareness of your surroundings. Are you able to make out familiar shapes in the dark and ground yourself to what they looked like in better light? If the light is too dim for your eyesight, would it help to have a dim (non-blue spectrum) light on in the room so that you can see? Whatever coping method you settle on will probably relate to overcoming one or more aspects of why the dark is bothering you so that the other ones feel more manageable.

 

[111kg]

One of the reasons we are scared of the dark is the fact that most of us are living in superstitious families. How many times have we been told that we should go outside, because it's already dark? How many times have we seen movies in which monsters were lurking in the darkness? This is exactly why we are afraid of the dark, even after decades of age.

 

[misszerable]

I've always slept with soft lights on and it's hard to imagine myself sleeping alone in complete darkness. I can only sleep with the lights off when someone else is in the room. Otherwise, i'd be scared to do so. Yes, I'm scared of the dark, too. I think that it's a kind of fear that I don't have to deal with and think about so much. In the first place, I need some lights on because my child is sleeping in the same room and I needed to check on him from time to time.  Secondly, I have full control over my life and no one can tell me to turn the lights off when I don't have to. 

 

[Jasmin Cottontail]

I know, I'm 23 and I'm scared of the dark. I have never overcome this fear, I've struggled with the dark since I was very young. I'm not exactly scared of the pitch blackness, more like a fear of not being able to see my surroundings. I take comfort in analyzing things around me, so when I'm forced into the dark I panic. I freeze up completely and refuse to touch anything, whether it's my home or not or if I know what's around me or not. I do have vision problems. Sometimes I think this may be why, but I don't think that is it either. I'm just truly scared of what is in the dark because I can't see it...

Don't worry, there are also people that have this kind of fear so you are not alone Although this fear is a bit common, it's a bit difficult as well. I myself is the contrary of this, I actually like dark places, or dim places I must say. But not pitch black, well pitch black is fine but only if I'm in the bedroom or when I'm about to sleep. I think the only way to overcome it is for you not to think a lot of things while in the dark because imagining things while seeing nothing will only make you more afraid and will cause panic attacks.

 

[Gergyta]

I’m not 18 and my parents don’t understand what it’s like to be afraid of the dark. They think it’s childish, is it childish to not be able to stare into the darkness without your heart beating to fast and breathing heavy, scrambling around for a light source? That’s how I feel, but the thing is I can’t sleep with a lot of light, so a nightlight is way the bright so I have to constantly mess with my phone, but even when I’m doing something that shines light into places, I sometimes still feel the shadows creeping up on me. Even when I’m with someone or it isn’t completely dark I’ll still be afraid. It doesn’t help that I need glasses to see far away-ish objects. I’ve met another person who is an adult that has the same problem and it was nice to know I’m not alone. This is a wall of text but I’m to lazy to get my computer up and running.